We produce OAK & About, the email newsletter for Oakland International Airport sent to over 130K recipients. Since our team took over OAK & About at the start of 2022, the average open rate jumped from 25% to nearly 40%, well above the standard benchmark for newsletters.
Scope of Work
Content Strategy
Messaging & Copy
Art Direction
Newsletter Design
Illustration
Animation & Motion
Our approach was to turn the newsletter into something more like a travel lifestyle magazine than a corporate communications channel. The visual style and brand voice we developed are heavily inspired by the culture of the East Bay, highlighting the region as a destination for out-of-market readers and reinforcing loyalty amongst local readers.
For every issue, we designed a header visual based on the content theme that would display well on both desktop and mobile. We interspersed themed design elements throughout the newsletter, including custom illustrations and infographics. We also created a set of social media assets to help promote the newsletter, which can include carousel posts, Reels, and/or animations.
We worked with the client to develop an editorial strategy and ongoing content calendar that covers airport news (new routes, terminal updates, and vendor openings) and East Bay culture (local restaurants, retailers, artists, and seasonal events). Special attention was paid to creating a variety of content types, from interviews and infographics to listicles and link roundups.
In addition to increasing the open rate and initiating more responses from readers, our work on OAK & About was also recognized as the Best Newsletter by the commercial airport trade organization Airports International Council – North America.
44%
Open rate average across issues
39%
Highest open rate achieved
11%
Increase in performance since our first issue